Well, in Tennessee, we called them rubber bands, because they were made out of rubber, see, but in Pittsburgh it is always gum bands. They are not made out of gum, so I don't know why they call them that, but having lived here now for 37 years, I have finally acclimated and succumbed to the local jargon, calling a rubber band a gum band only just recently. I sometimes surprise myself.

WELCOME ALANALOVESYOU
Right~ I go by what the package says...Rubber Bands. Saw them in the store just yesterday...lol
uh oh there I go with my caps lock again lets see what kind of tongue lashing I get this time.....sorry folks just got out of my email mode where I still use permanent caps....

alanalovesyou wrote:I never realized until about a year ago that they aren't really gum bands,they're rubber bands.Yes,I am from the Pittsburgh area.

Do yins also have a crick near your house like I do?

!!! 'yins'!

I have this friend (from NY) who insists that Pennsylvanians say "yins" or "yuns". Me, I vehemently deny this ever happens (I've honestly never heard it uttered) but of course I really speak for my side of the state. Maybe you and I can convince my friend that your half and my half of PA really are two different states.

However I will admit to having walked by a crick on my way to school...

I have this friend (from NY) who insists that Pennsylvanians say "yins" or "yuns". Me, I vehemently deny this ever happens (I've honestly never heard it uttered) but of course I really speak for my side of the state. Maybe you and I can convince my friend that your half and my half of PA really are two different states.

However I will admit to having walked by a crick on my way to school...

PS too bad about Ben Rothlisberger

Yins is very common around here. I don't actually live in Pittsburgh though, I live about 30 miles from there.I have a teacher who recently moved from Philly to here, and he was so confused one day when my friend asked if she could go to the pop machine,since he had only ever called it soda.It was so funny.

I do feel real bad for Ben, but I think he'll probably be ok,at least that's what they're saying all over the news. He should've been wearing a helmet though.

I'm going to go out on a limb and posit that "gum" band is short for "gum rubber" band. I couldn't find any reference to gum rubber in Wikipedia, but a web search turned up several rubber company pages, such as this one, which seem to indicate that "pure gum" rubber is "natural" rubber, as opposed to a synthetic rubber such as Neoprene and Nitrile.

Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee